Greene County IN Archives Biographies.....Cavins, E. H. C. 1832 -
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Author: Goodspeed (1884)
COL. E. H. C. CAVINS, a native of Greene County. Ind., was born in Jackson
Township April 16, 1832, and was raised to manhood in Bloomfield, where he
acquired his early education. He afterward took a two years' course at Asbury
University, then read law with his brother, Aden G., and in 1853 graduated from
the Law Department of the State University. He then began the practice of law in
Bloomfield, and in 1858 served as a member of the State Legislature. In the
spring of 1861, he recruited Company D; was mustered into service as Captain of
this company, which went out as a part of the Fourteenth Indiana Volunteers.
They were first under McClellan and Rosecrans in West Virginia, but in 1862 were
with Gen. Shields in the Shenandoah Valley campaign and the battle of
Winchester. They were then transferred to the Army of the Potomac, and became a
part of the Second Army Corps, which covered the retreat from the Peninsula and
from second Bull Run. In August, 1862, Capt. Cavins was advanced to Major of the
Fourteenth, and the fall of this year participated in the battle of Antietam,
where he was wounded in the left hand, and shortly after which he was promoted
to Lieutenant Colonel. He commanded his regiment at Fredericksburg, and from the
official reports the dead from the Fourteenth laid nearest the enemy's works.
Chancellorsville and Gettysburg were the next important battles in which Col.
Cavins was engaged, succeeded by Morton's Ford, where he commanded two regiments
and where his horse was shot under him. Shortly after this, he returned to
Indiana to recruit his regiment, and on reporting for duty at Washington was
assigned command of a provisional brigade, detached from the Army of the
Potomac, of which he continued in command during the remainder of his term of
service, which culminated in the battle of Cold Harbor. In 1864, he was
commissioned Colonel, and June 20, 1S64, received his final discharge. He was
then made Adjutant General for the Southern Division of the State, under Gen.
Hughes, and served as such during the remainder of the war. During the
rebellion, Col. Gavins participated in over fifty pitched battles and
skirmishes. Since then, he has been actively engaged in the practice of his
profession at Bloomfield, where he has attained a prominent position at the bar
of Greene County. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, a Republican, and a
Royal Arch Mason. To his marriage with Miss Ann M. Downing, solemnized October
23, 1855, four children have been born—Samuel R., Carrie Belle, Ida L. and Susie
F. The mother was born in March, 1836, in Greene County, and is a daughter of
the old pioneer, Alexander Downing.
Additional Comments:
Richland Township Biographies
Extracted from:
HISTORY OF GREENE AND SULLIVAN COUNTIES,
STATE OF INDIANA,
FROM THE EARLIEST TIME TO THE PRESENT; TOGETHER WITH INTERESTING BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCHES, REMINISCENCES, NOTES, ETC.
ILLUSTRATED.
CHICAGO: GOODSPEED BROS. & CO., PUBLISHERS.
1884.
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